1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to solar heating, and more particularly to the solar heating of a swimming pool.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the increased price of fossilized fuel and the corresponding increase in the cost of producing electric heating, an enormous investigation has been undertaken to harness alternate forms of energy. Solar energy promises to be one of the more fruitful and desirable alternatives to fossilized fuel. An important area in solar heating is in the area of solar swimming pool heating. Various devices have been devised to heat the water within the swimming pool to extend the useful season of the swimming pool for the consumer. U.S. Pat. No. 3,072,920 to Yellott shows a novel swimming pool cover for collecting or reflecting solar heat. The device can either increase the temperature of water or reflect the sunlight depending upon the orientation of the cover.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,314,415 to Rowekamp is a structural modification to a pool type solar collector which is adaptable to a swimming pool structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,443 to Smith illustrates a floating solar heater for a swimming pool having a translucent cover enclosing a chamber of a substantially dead air space.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,095 to Pelehach et al shows a solar heating device for a swimming pool comprising an inflatable raft having a thermally reflected bottom and a thermally transparent top surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,882 to Forman et al illustrates a panel structure for use on water such as a swimming pool comprising a plastic frame with a plastic sheet extending across an open zone with the sheet having a woven construction for defining air-filled interstices distributed over the sheet area across the open zone.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,002,031 to Bell shows a solar energy converter with waste heat engine incorporating a plurality of optical concentrators directing sunlight to Gallium Arsenide photovoltaic cells.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,187 to Roberts shows a floating solar heater for a swimming pool comprising an upper transparent panel and an opaque bottom panel defining a thermal compartment therebetween.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,653 to Bourdon et al shows a solar heating unit incorporating movable panels for compensating for the relative movement between the sun and the earth.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,547 to Malecek relates to a solar heater incorporating parallel mirrors for concentrating the sun rays to a boiler or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,078,548 shows a high efficiency solar panel having a plurality of concentrators disposed about the surface of incidental sunlight.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,081 to McColgan et al shows a portable lightweight solar heater incorporating a lightweight flexible unit floating upon the surface of the swimming pool which functions as a flat plate collector by virtue of the water circulating through the system.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,090,496 to Mallet shows a compound to form bodies for generating heat from radiant luminous energy which may be formed in a submersible device for a swimming pool or the like.
Although these inventions have solved various needs in the prior art, there is further need to provide a system which concentrates the direct light emitted by the sun onto the water contained within the swimming pool.
Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the solar heating art.
Another object of this invention is to provide a swimming pool solar heater including a plurality of sunlight condenser elements each having a plurality of condensing lenses secured to a frame and rotatably mounted for projecting the condensed sunlight onto the water within the swimming pool.
Another object of this invention is to provide a swimming pool solar heater including a motor for rotating the plurality of condenser elements for maintaining the projection of condensed sunlight onto the water within the swimming pool during the relative movement between the earth and the sun.
Another object of this invention is to provide a swimming pool solar heater having a base disposed along an edge of the swimming pool having a plurality of sockets for removably receiving a support shaft extending from each of the plurality of sunlight condenser elements.
Another object of this invention is to provide a swimming pool solar heater comprising a single motor driving a shaft with plurality of drive means spaced along the drive shaft for engaging the plurality of sockets for simultaneously moving the plurality of condenser elements.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description describing the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.